Centrifuge technology has long been used to separate mixtures of materials into their heavy and light components. Centrifuge technology is useful in many fields, including, but not limited to, medical, industrial, and public service sectors, all within various specific applications where separation technology is beneficial.
The effectiveness of presently known centrifuge technology is dependent upon factors such as the magnitude of the separating force (centrifugal force) that is generated by the centrifuge and the residence time during which the material to be separated is subjected to the separating force. Virtually all centrifuges rely on some type of rotary motion to generate a separating force. Thus, the magnitude of the separating force that is generated depends on the size (moment arm) of the centrifuge and the speed at which the centrifuge rotates. To generate a given magnitude of separating force, a small-size centrifuge must be driven at higher revolutions per minute (RPM) than is required of a large-size centrifuge.
The residence time during which the material to be separated is subjected to the separating force depends upon the flow-path of the material through the centrifuge. This flow-path is defined by the internal structure of the centrifuge, and its length is sometimes limited by the type of centrifuge. Typically, the longer the residence time of a material under a given separation force, the better the separation of the light material from heavy material.
Existing centrifuge technology is limited in its ability to allow a change to be made in the separation force and/or in the residence time.
While existing relatively large-size centrifuge technology is capable of handling relatively large inflow rates, such as 100 gallons per minute (GPM), it is not conducive to portable use in a self-contained unit. Such large size centrifuge structures are difficult to transport, require frequent skilled maintenance, and often do not allow simple modification of the separation force and/or the residence time in order to adjust the centrifuge as input material conditions or output material requirements vary.
In present supercritical oxidation reactors, a complex mechanical system is required for creating the environment necessary to perform the supercritical oxidation reaction. For instance, in these complex systems significant effort is given to controlling the pressure, both increasing the pressure to that required for the process and then decreasing the pressure to allow waste removal. The associated equipment can be expensive to build and possibly dangerous to operate. The supercritical reaction systems presently available typically incorporate several steps in order to sequentially build up the required pressure and temperature to adequately perform the supercritical reaction process. These systems are expensive and have relatively low throughput.
What is needed in the art is an apparatus to allow the performing of the oxidation reaction, both supercritical and subcritical, which is inexpensive, relatively simple to operate, allows continuous processing of relatively high flow rates, and is easy to maintain and repair.
It is with the foregoing issues in mind that the centrifuge of the present invention was developed.